Friday, 7 March 2014

A Traveler or A Tourist?

“Come
on! I am going there as a traveler, not as a tourist,” stated are
the words of a friend of mine who left the country for Italy last
Friday. When his mom asked him to come back early that’s what he
replied with. Don’t know about his mother but I found this
statement very catchy and interesting. Thus, have made the statement
food for my blog today.

A Traveler or A Tourist?

“Tourist”
or “Traveler”, generally we use the two terms interchangeably but
actually there lies a huge difference between both of these. Take two
different roads, one which is full of adventure despite of its
unforgiving and inhospitable atmosphere while other is a smooth and
most walked on since it is guided by the experience of others. The
one who would choose the former road would be a traveler while the
one who chooses the later would be a tourist.

Let
us try to distinguish between the two on different parameters:

Planning
-A
tourist always has measured steps towards some set routes. He carries
with himself a self-charted-out map. Whereas a traveler cares less
for the routes and remains agile enough to change the route even at
the eleventh hour. A tourist has planned routes while the traveler
wait for the routes to plan for him.

A
tourist always follows his schedule religiously even up to the limit
that at some point of time he becomes slave of his schedule. He knows
exactly where he would be after a week. Whereas, there is no such
compulsion with a traveler. In fact, you would find him clueless
about his next move.

Comfort-
A tourist would care much for his comfort and to attain it, he would
not even think once in spending a lot on quality hotels or resorts
and also on hiring comfy cabs. Whereas, a traveler would find his
comfort under a mosquito net, around campfire and by traveling in an
overcrowded public transport. They literally lead a nomadic life
during the phase.

Learning-
By visiting a nation, a city, a place you indeed give pleasure to
your eyes but did your mind get its food? The curious mind of a
traveler remains active 24X7 in knowing about the things they can’t
see around and want to know beyond what everyone knows. Whereas, a
tourist remains quite active with his cameras and wanna capture the
beauty of the place for once and all. But isn't this capturing limits
the nature for him.

Interaction-
A
tourist has his interaction limited with a guide. He seeks whatever
information the guide gives him. Hiring a guide actually curbs his
opportunity to interact with the natives or locals. Whereas, a
traveler tries to ask maximum questions with a native with his
limited vocab and generally with some unusual yet amusing gestures. A
traveler gets friendly and interactive very easily. He tries to grasp
each and every minute detail without being a formal questioner.

What
Next- Once
home, a tourist gets the opportunity to share the pics with his near
and dear ones via Facebook, WhatsApp and other social networking
site. After a day or two’s rest, they get back to their old life.
But you would find the same traveler with a different hairdo,
interacting in a strange and broken language that too in a very
different accent.

I
think, we should earnestly thank these energetic and enthusiastic
traveler because they are the one who spot the unknown places and
later write about them. Such writings not only acquaint us with some
unknown places but also extend our knowledge about what we already
know.